HEALTHY

SENSING.
Do You Know When Your Proximity Sensor is Sick?

A Honeywell White Paper

TABLE OF
CONTENTS

3 Abstract
4 Introduction
5 What is ECKO Technology?
5 What are Eddy Currents?
5 How do Honeywell ECKO Proximity Sensors Work?
6 What is FAVCO?
6 How is it "Enhanced" from standard ECKO Sensing?
6 What Can Cause a Proximity Sensor to Fail?
6 What is the "Value" Above ECKO?
6 What is the Benefit and Use Case?
8 Conclusion

Healthy Sensing: Do You Know When Your Proximity Sensor is Sick? | A Honeywell White Paper 2
ABSTRACT
A proximity sensor is a sensor capable of
detecting the presence of nearby metal objects
without any physical contact. The proximity
sensor generally functions by detecting changes
in a local electromagnetic field. This field could
be emitted by the proximity sensor itself, or
by the metal target (magnet) being detected.
When a metal object is detected by the sensor,
the output of the sensor changes state.

The general application of a proximity sensor is very similar to that of an

electromechanical position switch, though there are a few differences: No physical
contact is required for the proximity sensor to detect the position of metal objects,
it has the potential for variable near/far sensing, and it may include FAVCO (Fixed
Amplitude Variable Current Oscillator) technology.

Some common areas of use within aerospace applications are doors and slides, thrust
reversers, engine accessories, landing gear, Ram Air Turbine (RAT), flap skew, and
flight control surfaces.

Healthy Sensing: Do You Know When Your Proximity Sensor is Sick? | A Honeywell White Paper 3
INTRODUCTION
In today’s competitive technology landscape,
pressure to have the longest-life components at
the lowest cost with increased accuracy is at an
all-time high.
This pressure has created demand for next-generation contactless sensing
technologies that can outperform their less reliable predecessors. There are a host
of options for contactless sensing, but most current choices do not offer options for
harsh environments, a wide range of electrical input capability ranges, and built-in
technologies to report sensor health status back to the control module.

Healthy Sensing: Do You Know When Your Proximity Sensor is Sick? | A Honeywell White Paper 4
HEALTHY SENSING:
DO YOU KNOW WHEN
YOUR PROXIMITY
SENSOR IS SICK?
Honeywell has engineered a next-generation
class of enhanced ECKO sensing technologies,
called FAVCO, that address these current
hurdles.

What is ECKO technology? How do Honeywell ECKO

ECKO: Eddy Current Killed Oscillators
• Honeywell ECKO proximity switches
are non-contact, non-interactive
sensors that are sensitive to all metals.
They consist of an oscillator,
demodulator, level, and switching
amplifier.
• ECKO technology is a delineation from
inductive technology.
What are Eddy currents?
• Electric currents induced within a
conductor by a changing magnetic
field in the conductor.
• These currents circulate within the
material and cause energy losses
within magnetic circuits.
Proximity Sensors work?
• When a conductive object (or target)
approaches the sensor’s oscillating
electromagnetic field, Eddy currents
are induced in the target and increase
as the target gets closer to the sensor.
In an ECKO-type proximity switch, the
loss of energy to the target increases
enough to kill the natural magnetic
field oscillation of the sensor.
• This loss of oscillation is detected
internally to the sensor and used to
trigger the sensor’s output.

Figure 1. Standard target to control signal.

Standard Target (ST37-mild steel) Control Signal

Oscillator Demodulator Trigger Switching

Amplifier
Honeywell has enhanced the existing technology to offer a next-generation Series of proximity sensors.

Healthy Sensing: Do You Know When Your Proximity Sensor is Sick? | A Honeywell White Paper 5
What is FAVCO?
• Honeywell FAVCO (Fixed Amplitude
Variable Current Oscillator) proximity
sensing technology is based on an
enhanced ECKO technology platform.
• It is a proprietary technology developed
by Honeywell.
How is it “enhanced” from
standard ECKO sensing
technology?
• The FAVCO technology adds a variable
gain amplifier that keeps oscillation at
a constant level and increases the
current to maintain the oscillation
amplitude.
• Like ECKO, FAVCO measures the Eddy
current losses caused by the target but
measures the current in the oscillation
circuit instead of the oscillation
amplitude.
• FAVCO technology utilizes additional
circuitry to monitor critical circuitry for
faults and normal operation.
What can cause a proximity
sensor to fail?
• Broken/faulty oscillator coils
• Sealing failure => corrosion to the
oscillator coil
• Electrical component failures in the
ECKO sensing circuitry
Healthy Sensing: Do You Know When Your Proximity Sensor is Sick? | A Honeywell White Paper
What is the “value” above
ECKO?
• Because the IHM circuit always is
oscillating, it is able to detect failure
modes that traditional ECKO sensors
cannot. For example, in the traditional
ECKO sensor, if the coil breaks or an
electrical component faults (stops the
oscillator), the sensor cannot
determine if the target is near or if there
is a fault that stopped the oscillation,
and may indicate an incorrect target
position. With sensors built with the
FAVCO technology, if the coil breaks,
the oscillation would stop and the
circuit would change the output to a
fault mode rather than the incorrect
state.
• FAVCO increases system Mean Time
Between Failures (MTBF) and reliability
by continuously monitoring the
sensor’s health and detecting sensor
faults that can mask system failures.
• FAVCO allows for continuous sensor
health verification during operation,
simplifying system verification while in
operation.
What is the benefit and use
case?
• True “three-state” output indicates
target near, far, and fault detected.
Failure detection is extremely valuable
in commercial aircraft maintenance
and fault diagnosis as it allows for
easier troubleshooting.
• Unlike Built-In Test (BIT) technology
that requires extra wiring, Honeywell
GAPS and HAPS proximity sensors
(engineered with FAVCO technology)
provide continuous sensor health
monitoring with only three wires. This
eliminates additional cabling and
processing required to achieve sensor
health verification.
• Various package configurations make
this sensor family more flexible to fit
many applications.
• The Honeywell GAPS and HAPS Series
are durable and capable of maintaining
accuracy over a full range of aircraft
thermal, vibration, EMI, and lightning
environments, including engine
nacelle, landing gear, wing, and door
environments.
6
The Honeywell GAPS and HAPS Series of proximity sensors offers health monitoring
with continuous real-time diagnostics and customizable three-state outputs that allow
discernment between system target faults and sensor malfunctions. We started with a
standard ECKO sensor and then added our proprietary FAVCO technology. This means,
for example, that a pilot who sees a fault light in his or her aircraft landing gear system
can discern, even in mid-flight, if the landing gear truly is not fully stowed or if the
proximity sensor itself has failed. With this additional and vital information, the pilot can
decide to continue with the flight as normal rather than diverting to the nearest airport or
delaying the flight, potentially saving airline companies lost revenue. Additionally, repair
mechanics on the ground will know if the proximity sensor has failed without a long and
expensive troubleshooting session.

Options are also available for fire detection (high temperature signal) with an integral
thermal sensor that sets sensor output to alarm state if temperature exceeds preset
value. Various package configurations are offered (flange, threaded, integral connector,
or pigtail) to provide flexibility within the application, and the design is capable of rapid
customization. GAPS and HAPS Series sensors are certified to customer-specified
DO-160G requirements. HAPS sensors have a typical reliability (MTBF) in excess of
1,000,000 hours. Honeywell has sensing packages as light as 60 g. Honeywell is lighter
in a good deal of parts.

These new sensors are already in use in various aircraft in the following applications:
• Doors and slides • Ram Air Turbine (RAT)
• Thrust reverser and engine accessory • Flap skew
• Landing gear • Flight surface travel limits

How has Honeywell achieved these advancements over standard ECKO proximity
sensors available on the market? In essence, we have added FAVCO circuitry to our
sensors in series with our over-temp circuitry. The block diagram below explains this
visually.

Figure 2. Shows ECKO technology vs. FAVCO technology

Supply conditioning

Eddy
EMI Protection

Current Comparator
Element

Output
Target

OSC
Killed
Oscillator Ref.

O/T
circuit
Target Target Target
Absent Present Absent
Eddy currents within the target cause a load on the sensor
decreasing the amplitude of the oscillator, monitored by a trigger
switching the output state on or off.

Supply conditioning
Fixed Ref.
Amp.
control
Amplitude
EMI Protection

Comparator
Element

Output
Target

Variable OSC

Current
Ref.
Oscillator Health Temp.
monitoring comp. &
Over temp
Target Target Target
Absent Present Absent
Energy measured to maintain the oscillation when a load on the
sensor is applied caused by the eddy currents of the target.

Healthy Sensing: Do You Know When Your Proximity Sensor is Sick? | A Honeywell White Paper 7
CONCLUSION
Honeywell has expanded on current ECKO
technology in the industry to offer a line
of next-generation proximity sensors with
integral sensor fault indication. This detection
can potentially save companies both money
and labor in operating their airlines.

There are three significant advantages to proximity sensors:

1) There are no moving parts to wear out or require re-adjustment;

2) They do not require physical contact with the target; and
3) They are capable of monitoring the health of internal electronics.

Honeywell has more than 50 years experience in the aircraft sensing industry.
Contact us today for a demonstration of how our new technology, available in
both the GAPS and HAPS Series proximity sensors, is a true game changer for
aerospace subsystems.

Healthy Sensing: Do You Know When Your Proximity Sensor is Sick? | A Honeywell White Paper 8
FOR MORE INFORMATION
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Things services its customers through a
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